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Peanut Butter Chocolate Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Love chocolate and peanut butter together? So do I. Yum. However, I’m not a huge cupcake fan. I’ll eat them, sure, but if I’m making something for myself, I would more likely make a tart, ice cream, candy, or cookies. I made these for a lab meeting at work, though, and my colleagues love cupcakes – especially any featuring chocolate.

These would be perfect for a fancy occasion like a birthday party or for a potluck.

Agent Minty’s Peanut Butter Hi-Hat Cupcakes

Makes 18 medium cupcakes

Quick rich chocolate cupcakes (modified from Joy of Cooking)

2 1/4 cups of white flour

1 3/4 cups white sugar

9 Tbsp cocoa

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1.5 cups cold water

1 Tbsp instant coffee granules

6 Tbsp canola oil

1.5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp vanilla

Whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer.

Combine water, coffee granules, oil, vinegar, and vanilla

Pour liquid ingredients into dry and mix until smooth.

Pour into cupcake liners.

Bake at 350F for 17-19 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for at least 45 minutes.

Peanut butter whipped frosting

To get the creamiest consistency, I recommend using the cheap no-stir homogenized peanut butter. I use the natural stuff on my toast, but it’s famous gritty texture will interfere with your frosting here.

3 1/2 Tbsp margarine (any kind is fine)

2.5 Tbsp of smooth peanut butter

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

3 1/3 c icing sugar

5 Tbsp almond milk

Cream together the first four ingredients.

Add in icing sugar 1 cup at a time, alternating with milk.

Whip until a mousse-like texture has been achieved

Transfer to a piping bag with a large tip and place a large dollop on top of each cupcake.

Alternatively, use a spoon or a freezer bag with the corner cut off.

Freeze topped cupcakes for at least one hour.

Chocolate shell

Try to make this in a 2-cup container – wide enough to fit your fingertips, and deep enough to fit the frosted top of the cupcake. You will end up making more chocolate sauce than you will need. Try Adding extra coconut oil to the leftovers to make your own Magic Shell topping for ice cream.

2 cups of vegan chocolate chips, divided

2.5 Tbsp coconut oil, divided

Melt half of each ingredient together in a heat-proof container in your microwave (3 30-second bursts should do it).

Take a frozen, topped cupcake and dip into the chocolate sauce.

Drip off the extra.

While the chocolate is still wet, place on any decorations you want. I used salted roasted peanuts.

Return cupcakes to the freezer, or keep out for immediate consumption.

Allow cupcakes to thaw for 2 hours before serving. They will stay good for about 10 hours at room temperature, but the chocolate shell will get a little soft.

By the way, sorry for the lack of budget or healthy eating posts lately. With my busy schedule, most of my meals have been repeats of the staples – vegan homemade wieners, bean salad, spaghetti, or tinned soup. Cheap, yes, but not so interesting. We have a two-week break in the renos while we wait for a new counter, so hopefully in the meantime I’ll get inspired to document some weeknight cooking!